' In the year 1803, the Society for the En- 
couragement of Arts gave a premium of 20 
guineas to Mr. Massey, of Hornley, in Staf- 
fordshire, for anew striking part of a clock; 
the principal difference in which from the 
common movement was, that a penduhun 
about nine inches long, and which therefore 
vibrated pretty nearly half seconds, was used 
to regulate the interval of time between the 
strokes, instead of the common fly wheel. 
The other parts of the mechanism were also 
of a simpler construction than those of the 
striking parts of the clocks in cqmmon 
use. 
Mr. Prior, of N essfield , in Y orkshire, also 
obtained a premium from the above-men- 
tioned society in the same year, of 30 
guineas, for another contrivance for the 
striking part of a clock : of which the ad- 
vantage consisted in the simplicity of its 
structure, and the precision of its perform- 
ance, and which therefore possessed con- 
siderable merit as a piece of mechanism ; 
hut neither of those inventions being of any 
service to the great object of horological 
machinery, namely the precise and accurate 
measurement of time, we have thought a 
farther description of them needless here. 
Clocks being considered in this point of 
view, as they doubtlessly should be, no great 
estimation can be attached at present to 
those clocks on the continent which were 
formerly so famous, whose chief object 
seems to have been to set a number of pup- 
pets in motion at stated times. Of these 
the clocks of Strasburg and of Lyons were 
the most noted. In the former a cock 
claps his wings, and proclaims the hour ; and 
puppets, intended to represent an angel, 
the Virgin, and the Holy Spirit, appear : the 
angel opens a door, and salutes the virgin, 
and the Holy Spirit descends on her. In 
the clock of Lyons two horsemen encounter 
and beat the hour on each otlier ; a door 
opens, and there appears on the theatre the 
image of the Virgin, with that of Jesus 
Christ in her arms ; the Magi, with 
their retinue, marching in order, and pre- 
senting their gifts ; two trumpeters sound- 
ing all the while to proclaim the procession. 
Clocks with chimes are of the sarne nature 
with those describetl. 
In nearly the same rank with the foregoing 
must be classed the clocks made to register 
the motions of tlie heavenly bodies : they 
can be only considered as objects of curio- 
sity, since in point of utility, in noting the 
position of the heavenly bodies, the common 
nautical almanacs are so superior, as to 
render it in some degree ridiculous to com- 
pare them together. The clock of the royal 
palace at Hampton Court is one of the most 
noted of those which have movements of 
this nature; but other considerations ren- 
der this clock an object of great interest. 
According to Dr. Derham it is the oldest 
English clock extant, having been construct- 
ed in the year 1540, in the reign of Henry 
VIII. It shews the time of the day, and 
the motion of the sun and of the moon 
through all the degrees of the zodiac, toge- 
ther with the day of the month, the moon’s 
southing, and other matters. These motions 
are the more deserving attention, as at the 
time the clock was made, Copernicus, then 
living, had not publised his book “ On the 
Revolutions of the Celestial Orbs.” And 
besides this, the pendulum was not applied 
as a regulator of clocks for nearly a century 
afterwards. 
A few clocks have been constructed 
with a view directly contrary to those des- 
cribed, in which simplicity of parts was as 
much studied as great variety of movements 
were in the others. Of the clocks of this 
simple structure none have as yet exceeded 
that contrived by the celebrated Doctor 
Franklin : it shows the hours, minutes, and 
seconds, and yet consists of but three wheels, 
and two pinions. The lowest wheel con- 
tains 160 teeth, and goes round once in four 
hours ; it carries the hand on its axle, which 
points out both the hours and the minutes, 
as will be described ; and it turns a pallet 
above it of ten leaves, on the same axis 
with which is a wheel of 120 teeth, that 
gives motion to a pallet of eight leaves. The 
second hand is annexed to the same axis 
witli this latter pallet, as also the swing 
wheel, which carries 30 teeth, that gives 
motion to the pallets of an anchor escape- 
ment, and to its pendulum that vibrates se- 
conds. The dial of this clock is of a singu- 
lar formation. The external circle on it 
contains 240 divisions, numbered from 1 to 
60, in four successive notations. Tiiis circle 
shews the miuutes : within it the hours are 
arranged in four concentric circles, or in a 
volute of four revolutious, along four radii, 
vvhich forpi right angles with each other. 
By this arrangement, wlrile the point of the 
hand shews the minute, its side exhibits the 
hour ; or more strictly speaking, shews that 
the hour is one of three; but so that it will 
hardly ever happen that any douht will re- 
main of which it may be, as there are four 
hours difference between the figures next 
to each other on the same radial line. A 
